The influence of ancient herders on soil development at Luxmanda, Mbulu Plateau, Tanzania

In eastern Africa, ecologists have found that when mobile pastoralists abandon their temporary encampments, the accumulation of burned animal dung, wood, and other organic waste enriches the concentration of nutrients (e.g., calcium, phosphorous, magnesium) essential to soil health, in comparison to other soils without prior human habitation. These nutrient-enriched soils promote glade development and greater biodiversity. Geo-archaeological research on the time depth of this anthropogenic nutrient hotspot phenomenon has demonstrated that soils at several archaeological sites in southern Kenya still remain enriched in these soil macro- and micro-nutrients after several thousand years. However, soil scientists and geoarchaeologists do not yet understand how these anthropogenic soils vary over the extensive geographic conditions of eastern Africa. The discovery of a Pastoral Neolithic site (ca. 3000 BP) at Luxmanda on the Mbulu Plateau, Tanzania, provides an opportunity to examine if similar patterns of nutrient enrichment can be detected in a different geological and climatic zone. In this paper, we use geochemical and sedimentary analyses to determine how archaeological soils at Luxmanda differ from adjacent off-site soils and known archaeological soils in Kenya, as well as from computationally derived soil nutrient models for eastern Africa. Our results indicate that soils derived from anthropogenic sediments and ashy dung are 4 to 16-fold more abundant in soil macro nutrients relative to off-site or modeled values. This pattern fits previous studies' observations that elevated macro- and micro-nutrients in soils are strongly correlated with ancient pastoralist habitation sites. We conclude that anthropogenic soils found at Pastoral Neolithic archaeological sites may be a valuable, but unappreciated, soil resource in eastern Africa.

Automated summary

Ecologists in eastern Africa have discovered that mobile pastoralists enrich soil nutrients by leaving behind burnt organic waste when abandoning their temporary encampments, promoting glade development and biodiversity. Studies show that several archaeological sites in southern Kenya remain enriched in soil nutrients even after thousands of years, but scientists still do not fully understand how these anthropogenic soils vary across the region. The discovery of a Pastoral Neolithic site in Tanzania presents an opportunity to further investigate nutrient enrichment patterns in different geological and climatic zones.